(This is a classic hero backstory setup we’re being introduced to the forces that shaped the artist. The first structure you encounter is not a Mound per se, but a recreation of Hancock’s grandmother’s house. Crumb definitely, and perhaps Ralph Bakshi), Greek mythology, Carl Jung, the history of art (George Grosz, Henry Darger, Philip Guston, and Claes Oldenburg), pop culture ( Pee-wee’s Playhouse, the Marvel franchise, video games, and Hollywood movies), Afrofuturism, his own autobiography-to conjure a world populated by what he calls “Mounds.” These creatures, networked by an underground root system, are part plant, part human, and function, in the artist’s words, as “natural depositories for memories and other bits of discarded humanity.” In a nod toward the battle between good and evil that marks almost every superhero story and children’s adventure tale, these creatures are under threat from the evil Mound-eating Vegans and rather ineptly protected by Torpedo Boy. Over the years, Hancock has drawn upon a vast array of sources-comic books (R. The project is a materialization of a fantasy world the artist has been fleshing out since the age of ten, when he created his alter ego Torpedo Boy, who wears his tighty-whities over his spandex superhero getup. It succeeds because Hancock’s vision is sufficiently epic to require the square footage. Trenton Doyle Hancock’s current installation, Mind of the Mound: Critical Mass, is one of the best shows I’ve seen in the challenging gallery. Trenton Doyle Hancock, Mind of the Mound: Critical Mass, installation view.
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